Skimming the surface of Hong Kong cycling culture

by Matt de Neef & Wade Wallace

We’re writing this post from the departure lounge of Hong Kong airport, as we wait for our flight to Milan. Over the past three days we’ve spent time in and around Hong Kong with the team at Champion System to get a feel for what the cycling culture in Hong Kong is like. Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive account of the Hong Kong cycling scene, rather it’s some reflections on what we’ve experienced, seen and heard in the past few days.

Hong Kong mightn’t strike you as a particularly cycling-friendly city and in some ways you’d be right. The traffic in the built-up areas (i.e. most of it) is chaotic, there are many freeways and tunnels that you can get funnelled on to if you’re not careful (and on which cycling is prohibited) and the locals don’t appear to be as used to cyclists as they are back in Australia (and that’s saying something).

But head out of the busiest parts of Hong Kong and there’s plenty of fantastic riding to be done.

On the day after arriving in Hong Kong we went out for a ride with a handful of local Hong Kong riders led by a couple from the Champion System Pro Continental team. We rode north out of the more built-up areas of Hong Kong into a region called the New Territories.

Unlike the concrete jungle that makes up most of the well-known parts of Hong Kong, the New Territories are more or less rural, with far fewer cars to deal with.

The ride we did was only short — somewhere around 40km — but it gave us a feel for what the riding around here is like. In a word: hilly. There weren’t too many flat sections on the ride (apart from the riverside bike track at the start) and there are definitely some steep climbs to be found. We would have loved to have had a crack at Victoria Peak which is quite popular amongst local cyclists, but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance.

One of the hardest things to get used to on the ride was the weather. Having come from Melbourne where it’s been 5 degrees C in the early morning, the 30+ degrees C conditions, with almost 100% humidity, were a shock to the system. Still, it felt good to sweat out the long day of travel we’d done the day before.

You won’t find many places in the world where cars and bikes get along, and Hong Kong is no different. We asked one of the Champion System sales reps, Edward, what the relationship between cyclists and drivers is like in Hong Kong. He told us: “Hong Kong people believe roads are for cars. Anything else …” At that point he started laughing.

And it would seem that it’s not just the drivers that haven’t got their heads around road cycling yet. From what we’ve heard cycling is barely even on the government’s radar in Hong Kong. Worse, we were told of races in Hong Kong that had been cancelled as a result of a single complaint to government from local residents, even when the races were being held in sparsely populated areas.

The Hong Kong National Championships are coming next month, and the individual time trial was just moved because of complaints from locals. The title is now being contested on a 2.8km climb.

The lack of government support for road cycling in Hong Kong could be to do with the fact that the sport is still very much in its infancy here. We’re told that it’s very much growing in popularity, but it’s several years behind the likes of Australia, the UK and elsewhere. There’s still lots of growth potential, but it will be interesting to see if that’s stifled by the limited size of Hong Kong and its infrastructure.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t dedicated cycling groups here. We were told of one group, the South Island Road Cycling group (or SIR), comprised largely of expats, that has a bit of reputation for doing some tough hilly rides early on weekdays. You can learn more about them here.

In the past few days we’ve also spent a bit of time at local bike shops trying to get a feel for how cycling retail is doing in Hong Kong and what differences, if any, there are between Hong Kong and Australia. We visited three popular shops — Flying Ball, Bull Bikes and Pro Bike — all in Kowloon and we were struck by just how much stock each of the shops was carrying.

The shelves and displays were chock-a-block full of all manner of gear, clothing and accessories — far more than you would see in an Australian shop. We tried to get to the bottom of how they can afford to stock so much, but it was a difficult subject to communicate. From what we understand, some of the shops are also distributors, which allows them to have an abundance of stock.

We asked a number of people whether they prefer to buy from bike shops in Hong Kong or online and there doesn’t seem to be a particular preference for online shopping in Hong Kong. Perhaps it’s the low taxes in Hong Kong, but from what we’re told, the prices in-store and online are more comparable in Hong Kong than they are elsewhere.

Even with three very full days dedicated to learning about Hong Kong’s cycling scene, it’s fair to say we’ve barely scratched the surface. We’d love to come back some time to do some more riding — including up to Victoria Peak — and to find out more about where cycling is at in Hong Kong. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the photos we’ve taken from the past few days.

The guys from Champ-Sys went above and beyond the call of duty to show us around Hong Kong, organise everything for us, and get us to where we wanted to go.

Riding out along the bikepath towards quieter roads in Hong Kong’s New Territories

The guys easily strolled up the long climbs of Hong Kong’s New Territories while we struggled in the 35C humid air

Group photo after the ride. Post-ride coffee isn’t really a thing here from what we’re told.

After the ride we stopped by a few of Hong Kong’s local bike shops in the area. Flying Ball Bicycle Co didn’t look inspiring from the outside, but it was a treasure chest on the inside. It is HK’s oldest bike shop and has been trading for more than 70 years. The photo on the bottom right is of David Millar who used to live in HK.

A couple other bikeshops we passed by but didn’t spend any time in. On the right is Winners Cycling Club which also acts as a small bike shop. We didn’t have much time to dig into it further, but judging by the club’s Facebook page it looks like it has a long history (you’ll have to google it as I can’t print Chinese characters here).

From the small hole-in-the-wall bikeshops jam packed with hundreds of brands, to the large concept stores, Hong Kong has it all.

Visiting Bull Bikes was a nice surprise. The number of brands they carry is staggering. You’ll notice that there are more frames in the store for sale than complete bikes. We’re told that the HK locals prefer to build up their bikes and pay an extra 30% to do so for the customised choice of parts.

Pro Bike may well be one of the most amazing bikeshops we’ve ever visited. We’d never be able to afford to shop there, but going in and nosing around made us feel like kids in a candy store. The number of boutique brands in stock was overwhelming and hundreds of small parts from anodised skewers, unique stems, nuts and bolts, etc was a feast for the eyes.

A great selection of skewers, nuts, bolts, spacers, etc to customise your bike in many of the shops

Keirin, a random guy we drove past and then bumped into later at a bike shop

An American, reading about cycling in Hong Kong, from an Australian website. Love it. Love the shops. I could spend all day in there browsing.

Kenacycle

I’ve been to a couple of those shops. It’s like a candy store! The brands and models of high end bikes they carry is amazing. Stuff I only see online they would have it; including limited or special edition bikes and parts

Dave Christenson

I’ve raced with a few of those guys in the photos. Some good riders for sure. That probike shop is unreal too…looks like a similar route I rode when I was there. Cool to see this.

Felipe

Amazing. What about pricing, from complete bikes to parts, is it cheaper than Australia or USA?

http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips

The pricing appears to be just higher than online prices.

Cam

Aah, Honkers. Love it!

FYI, there’s a new indoor velodrome under construction only 26km from Central station, at a cost of USD136m, and cycling is one of 15 national ‘Elite Sports’ given special funding by the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI, also Government operated). There is more Government support there than meets the eye, especially after Lee Wai Sze’s bronze medal in the 2012 Olympic’s Women’s Keiren.

Mainland Chinese consumers from Guangdong province often go to Hong Kong to buy high-end bikes cheaper than they can in China (0% import duty on Taiwanese-made bikes in HKG, versus 13% for China, unless imported under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement), so retail stores in HKG have a natural competitive advantage and a bigger market than their local backyard, so to speak.

Will stop before this turns into an essay… you know how I love to bang on ;-)

Safe travels!

Notso Swift

Don’t a lot of mainland Chinese also like to go to Honkers as a luxury goods tourist/shopping experience as a whole (While HK nationals go over the border to buy the knock offs!)

Ben Briggs

Lantau Island is the spot. Low Traffic, good roads, great scenery. Loop around Disney Land for a flat ride or ride to the Big Buddah for some serious Climbs. Check out “the Beast” on Strava.

Klaas Sipma

Great to read. I am heading to China for an internship in september and will try to maintain some fitness. Is there maybe a list with velodromes somewhere? I am staying in Wenzhou.

Notso Swift

Look Mondrian,, just hanging around, sigh

Sean Doyle

Bull Bike looks like my kind of shop.

Tsuibak

You should also visit Skyblue Bikes in Sheung Wan whose owner Sean I think is from Melbourne.

Alistair

+1 for Lantau. Last month I had a day free in HKG and caught the ferry to Silver Mine Bay, renting a bike from the local bike shop, and pedalled to the Big Buddha (40k round trip). A great way way to spend the morning.

James Hartwright

I used to hang around Flying Ball too. Is Mr Yipp (in the photo with Dave Millar) still in charge?

http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips

I spoke with a guy who claimed to be the owner, and it didn’t look like the guy in the photo. Not sure of his name, but he said that he’s been there for a long while.

AshC

Yep its still Mr Lee, same as the photo but he’s aged a bit since (the pic is taken at the old shop in Mongkok now its in Cheung Sha Wan).

Ed

Wing’s Cycles, go to Flat 1B of 222 Fa Yuen St in Mong Kok and have a chat to Mr Au Yeung Leung, an interesting old codger with history in HK cycling… check out the video (interesting if you speak Chinese I understand)

I just went for a cruise up the Han river in Seoul on a local dodgy sit up rental bike. Luckily the path runs along the river and was dead flat, because this bike could not handle much more than slight ramp. The handlebars kept rotating around in the stem making handling a dubious proposition. Still I got around 19 kms in an hour.

Anyway, it was great, if a bit bizarre, to see a different cycling scene to the Aus/Euro/North Amercia stuff we’re used to. There were all manner of bikes along the 60 or so kilometres of river side path. Dudes rocking full duallies with nobblies on a flat river path. Gorgeous looking girls on town bikes. Bunches of bike nerds in Rapha and Assos trying to roll turns. And a lot of people out with loads of bar/top tube mounted accessories like boom boxes, snack bags and Samsung S4 mounts (Apple is taboo in Korea). Their bikes looked like pack horses rather than bikes.

I even caught a guy on Cervelo P4 with 80mm carbon hoops front and rear with aforementioned radio and bags adorning his bike. He cruised along at about 22 km/h!! All the gear, no idea didn’t seem apt for this guy. More like – I’ve got lots of money and I want to cruise along the river on a top end bike while listening to some tunes and I don’t care what you think.

Anyway, I highly recommend it if you’ve got half a day to spare in Seoul.

Dos

You should have visited Sky Blue Bikes in Sheung Wan, Sean the Aussie guy who runs it is a legend. Much friendly and better service than Flying Ball or Bull Bike. Bull Bike have a online shop:

I live in the middle of HK island and riding is ok if you start early in the morning before the cars and buses start. Actually the drivers are ok, much more polite than Australia, the problem is the roads are narrow and very rough and its for this reason the government doesn’t want to encourage cycling except for designated areas.